General Question

Pretend this is YOUR SON. What would you have done?

I’ll tell this story briefly, with references, so no one believes I’m fabricating anything.

In 1984, Jody Plauché (then 11) was taking martial art lessons from karate instructor (and pedophile) Jeffrey Doucet (25), in Louisiana. The boy was kidnapped by Doucet and taken to a California motel, while police searched the country for him and the boy.

He was eventually tracked down when he made a collect phone call to his mother, who asked for “time and charges” and the operator told her the call was originating from Room #38 at the then-named Samoa Motel, 425 W Katella Avenue, ANAHEIM CA 92802–3607 (now called, “America’s Best Value Inn”).

Local authorities were summoned and they arrested Doucet without incident (he supposedly voluntarily surrendered), and was quickly extradited back to Louisiana to face formal kidnapping charges.

On Friday, March 16th, 1984, at around 9:30 PM, Central Time, as Jeffrey Doucet was being led in handcuffs by police officers through the airport, they walked past a bank of pay telephones, while a local TV station news crew was videotaping.

Unbeknownst to everyone, Leon “Gary” Plauché was pretending to use one of those phones when Jeffrey Doucet walked past with his police escorts. As the videotape camera recorded, Leon “Gary” Plauché leveled a firearm at Doucet’s head, firing once and scoring a direct hit, killing him almost instantly, at the airport. (Some reports said that so perfectly-aimed was the shot, that “Doucet was dead, before he fell down.”)

In an example of just how “Louisiana justice” works, Plauché pleaded “no contest” to a reduced charge of manslaughter, was given a suspended prison term and sentenced to five years of probation, which he completed in 1989.

To this day, he maintains in every interview that, “If it had been your son who was sexually abused by that pervert, you would have done exactly the same thing I did, if you had been given my opportunity.” [paraphrased, not verbatim]

Here are some links to that shocking video. [In case one link doesn’t work, the others might.]:

Sounds very similar to the Ellie Nessler case in California where she shot the guy accused of molesting her son at a pretrial hearing. She was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to ten years. She got out in four years.

But with this logic, everyone should enforce the law themselves. The guy was already arrested, and already convicted, right?

And let me tell you something- pedophiles do NOT have an easy time in prison. Prison would’ve been far, far worse than death.

Also you have to consider the decision, not just the end result. The father doesn’t know ahead of time that he’s only going to get manslaughter/probation. He has to expect that years of jail time is a possibly (if not likely) consequence. In any other state he’d be in jail, after all.

So, therefore, he’s (likely) removing himself from his family as well. Bad enough that the kid gets molested, but he would’ve likely been missing a father too. Single mom raising him. Less money for college since dad wouldn’t be making much cash in jail.

Had it been one of my sons, I could have easily shot the SOB. As it is, I spent a couple of hours in handcuffs after assaulting a man who tried to take my oldest son out of the grocery cart when he was a little guy. When I heard my son scream and turned around, I was filled with the kind of rage I didn’t think was possible. Ultimately, the police figured out that the man was a recently released pedophile (on probation) and determined I was merely defending my child. The man was taken to jail after he was released from the hospital.

What this guy did is get away with cold blooded revenge. I would never have murdered another human being ever, no matter what. And I think it’s a travesty of justice. By the logic presented, the man who took the law into his own hands and executed this child molester should have himself been executed by a member of the family of the accused. Then that person should have been murdered, and so on and so on.

It’s a ridiculous line of logic and exactly why vigilantism is illegal, and it’s exactly why this guy should have served time. As a parent, I’m sure he would have been happy to serve his time for the crime he committed, since he felt justified in his actions, but it tells society the wrong message to let this guy off so easy.

@JackAdams LoL… I actually was going to post a question about… well nevermind. Maybe I will later.

@jballou I understand what you’re saying – meaning I can comprehend it and see your point of view – but I don’t understand why he should be murdered – meaning the parent. The child molester took the innocence of a child. That’s something you never get back. You grow up all-of-a-sudden. Instantly you’re 10 years older than you were and you have no clue what the hell to do. You’re lost. In essence, that bastard killed that kids innocence. The father was just repaying the murder in spades.

@jballou is right – this way of thinking and acting is something that could be completely cyclic.

It is also important to mention that he was murdered before his trial. Anyone here who thinks that it is ok for any old person to exact their judgement on someone before they’ve been given due process has some serious thinking to do. Guilty until proven innocent is certainly not a civilized way to live. In fact few would live very long if everyone felt that way.

@JackAdams I think you have some murder/torture fantasies you may want to speak to a psychologist about. Not healthy. In fact, by your logic, we should kill you now as you might commit a crime in the future and it won’t matter if you’re actually guilty or not.

This is a really cool hydralic rescue device, that, once properly inserted into an accident vehicle, for example, expands and tears a car/truck apart, so the trapped occupants can be quickly freed.

After the way I was sexually assaulted by a Pnysical Education teacher when I was 13 years old, I guarantee everyone in here, that after I got done with him, his remains would not be identifiable, even with dental records.

I’ll bet money that any child who has ever been sexually assaulted/abused by an adult whom they once trusted, agrees with me, 100,000%.

Anyone who posts saying that they were sexually abused/assaulted and “forgives” their abuser, is just lying, in order to pick a fight.

@Jack & all: I know of what I speak. I was sexually abused for 13 YEARS by my mother’s brother. At the age of 13, I took matters into my own hands and told him that if he ever came near me again, I’d kill him. I spent many, many years angry with him, trying to deal with what the abuse had cost me, and becoming a semi-normal human being. After years of therapy, I finally realized that my abuser couldn’t help himself…he was mentally ill (in other ways, too). I did, in fact, forgive him. That’s not to say I had any sort of relationship with him, I didn’t. What I have not been able to forgive is the fact that my mother did not do more (or really, anything) to protect me (she was fully aware of the situation), and never even “disowned” her brother. I did not expect (or want) her to kill him, just make sure he was put away. As a result, I have “disowned” my mother. I finally realized at age 39, that I was maintaining our relationship to protect her feelings, at the cost of my mental health. Pretty ironic, huh?

@JackAdams “Respectfully, I would not want to be your son, be a victim of such abuse, and then be disappointed by your inaction towards my abuser.”

Jack, name one kid in the world who would rather see his father kill someone and go to jail for (probably) a few years, leaving the family, than let the judicial process just put the bad guy in jail and keep the family together instead.

If it were possible, I would travel backwards in time, and murder the great-great-grandfather of every pedophile whoever lived, ensuring that those pedophiles would never have been conceived.

Since age 13, I have never been able to “delete” the mental images of what was done to me by that inhuman monster, and it is only by the grace of Gawd, that I don’t know the current location(s) of my former gym teacher’s own grandchildren.

I remember when Richard Speck murdered eight student nurses in Chicago, in 1966. One of the girls’ fathers said, “If I could, I would track down and kill every member of his family, the way he butchered my little girl.” [not verbatim]

Death is easy. I would have wanted him to go to prison and have to live with it. Speaking as someone who was abused, I was disappointed when my abuser died; I hadn’t gotten up the courage to tell anyone about it, so he was never punished.

@macbean: I’m sorry that happened to you. When my abuser died (it was expected), I felt a huge sense of relief. Everyone that mattered already knew what had happened, and he was never punished, either.

See Jack. That last comment is definitely where you and I differ. I would wait for the pedophile that molested me to come home, then kill his father, then his sister, then his mother and finally him. That way he could feel the pain of innocence lost. I don’t give a shit what anyone thinks about me and my thoughts on this. I understand others have been through the same and feel differently, and I’m glad you do. Good on for you. I’m glad you were able to get past it. But I sure as shit haven’t. Go ahead. Call me sick. Call me twisted. Call me insane. You won’t be saying a damn thing to me that I haven’t thought myself. The thoughts in my head aren’t even half of what I allow myself to spew forth.

In a way, that makes both of us “distant cousins,” I guess, as we have both suffered abuse that only those like us, who have been where we have been, can know.

Those who have read my previous posts on this thread (and elsewhere on this website) may have just a little bit of a better understanding of what I (and some others, who believe they are just like me) have had to endure in their youth, and why I have had such anguish inside my soul, because what I felt would have been “justice,” for myself (and others, like me) never arrived.

From age 13 onward, I continually prayed for the almost daily nightmares to end (they didn’t) and for my attacker to be caught/punished (he never was, so far as I know).

With just one sexual assault on me, by someone bigger and more physically powerful than I, my childhood innocence was gone forever, and so was, for the most part, my childhood. I was forced to grow up right then and there, and experience feelings of emotion that were best reserved for a combat veteran in South Vietnam.

Recently, due to comments on this thread (and elsewhere) I have been a victim yet again, by those who would wish me harm. I have had more than one PM sent to me, telling me how this thread isn’t what it is intended by me to be, and how I am on “thin ice,” because I am doing what all of you have done here: Expressed an honest opinion.

I want to voice my personal apologies to those who found my remarks about child abusers/pedophiles (and what should be done to them) to be personally “offensive,” while at the same time, I wish to tell those of you who really feel sympathy toward them, how sorry I feel for you, for having any compassion at all, for someone who would perpetrate such atrocities on/against helpless children.

In my short 58 years of life, I have certainly met many kinds of so-called “people,” and among them, the pedophile has to be “the lowest, of the low,” and any “forgiveness” on my part, would not ease my pain, nor make me feel any better than I do, right now.

I am most grateful to see the posts here, of those who feel the same rage as I, towards someone who is nothing more than a rapist of the innocent, and whose own compassion was probably flushed down the toilet, with his bodily wastes.

I am most gratified to know that, from what I have read here (and via PMs) that I really am not as alone as I once may have thought that I was, until this honest question was posed.

My friends, the one thing that gives me some sort of comfort and hope, is that there probably really is a loving and caring Creator, who knows of the suffering we have endured, and who cries right along with us at night, adding His own tears to our pillows.

It is from where I draw my own feelings of strength, and how I attempt to deal with an emotional hurt that only seems to intensify, as I age.

I pray with all of my heart and soul, that those of you who have trod the road that I have traveled, fare much better than I have.

I have been informed that my Fluther account will be deleted soon, and if that is indeed the case, I’d like to wish all of you a very long, and very happy, life.

As I said in my PM, I call bullshit. Censorship because you don’t agree is disgusting and shows that this site is no better than the CNN’s and Fox News’ of our world. I’ve barely been a member a month and have learned a great deal from everyone here including Jack. That’s because Jack has contributed so much to everything. Look at the fluther app (I can’t remember who made it but I saw it like a day ago) and see who posts the most. I damn well guarantee you it’ll be Jack. He has well reasoned very thought out arguments and the fact that someone doesn’t like what he says… Seriously? Get over it. It’s not like he molested you. He said some words. Grab a straw and suck it up.

Dear Moderators and Fluther Gods,
Please reconsider. While I realize this thread has gotten a little out of hand, I don’t think it was intended maliciously. Understandably, this is a very sensitive topic. And while ideal, it cannot always be expected for people to reply in a calm and collected manner—especially when it is such a personal and heated topic.

I think there is a lot of anger here that needs venting. I just don’t know if Fluther is the healthiest way for that. (For either party.) Perhaps private messages with like-minded souls? Closer moderation? I don’t know.

But I think, as a collective, we should support each other. And not just when they are making us laugh over some absurd (but brilliant) answer. But when they are in their darker moments as well.

I think JackAdams has been a valued member of the community.
And I know many of us would miss him. I know that I would.

tWrex: Your molester’s family didn’t molest you. Why would you kill someone’s sister? Someone’s family isn’t just a possession you can take away from them to teach them a lesson or make them hurt. They are people, and for all you know they may be other victims of the guy.

[mod says:] Before this gets any more out of hand, I would like it to be known that no such decision has been made regarding JA’s account being deleted. If anyone has any further personal thoughts/opinions that they would like to be known about this, please feel free to PM me about it.

Let’s bring the conversation back on topic. As for this thread, as Nimis pointed out, it’s a hot button issue with lot of emotions involved. Discussion is great, but let’s remember to respect each other’s opinion too (this isn’t directed at anyone in particular, just a friendly reminder).

@cyndyh I understand that and in reality I wouldn’t do that, because you’re right. They could be victims as well.

But I would want to make him hurt as much as I have, which is why I said it. The thing is that I would want to do something so extreme that he would die by my hands with his last thoughts of his own pain and anguish. After Jack’s example I thought that would be one of the most horrible things to ever have to see, so I figured I’d run with it.

So I’m open to suggestions on how to make him feel that pain! (jk I can’t find him and don’t know that finding him now would help me let go of what happened at this point. I would want some retribution though, so I probably would kick his skull in and throw a plunger in his rear – just for spite. Actually, truth be told, I haven’t looked because I’m afraid of what I would do to him now.)

@tWrex: I understand what you’re saying. Those sorts of emotions can be really raw for a long long time.

I’d be afraid of losing control of myself if someone did something like that to one of my kids. But a world of vigilantes would be a far more dangerous place. I think I’d try to let the justice system work first. Now, where I’d be afraid of really losing control is if I let the system run its course and the system didn’t work and I knew beyond any doubt that it’d happened. I think I’d need some serious help controlling myself in that case.

See and that’s exactly my problem. I never got justice, so I think I would want vigilante justice at this point.

Did you know that in certain cases if the molester is under a certain age or they can get a plea bargain from the judge, it only stays on their minor record and gets wiped when they turn 18 AND they never have to register as a sex offender.

I found out about 4 years ago that my best friend had molested a 6 year old when he was 16. It was a girl his mother babysat. I tried to get past it for about… 10 seconds and then told him to go kill himself. Haven’t spoken since. He never had to register. It was on his minor record. It’s gone now. He blamed being molested by our mutual friends brother for his actions. Big B. Big S. What’s that spell? BS

I understood and fully agree. You choose your actions. No one can force you to do anything. Believe it or not, no one can get you mad. It’s how you react to what they do that gets you mad. You get mad because you chose to. Life is about choice. You choose your own path, padawan. Be consumed by the Dark Side you can be. There’s my Yoda-ish ideology.

The pain of being a molestation victim, as you can see, never goes away, and even when the molester is dead (as mine now is, supposedly) you are still pissed and torn apart by emotions, because you didn’t get to make him (or her, in rare cases) suffer the kind of hurt that you suffered.

Please dwell on that, those of you who are lucky enough to have NEVER been where I and tWrex have traveled.

@tWrex: I think that not getting justice is a big big part of the problem. I’m always amazed again when I hear of someone having so many prior convictions and being released and they do it over and over and over. Their sentence is over and the victim is still afraid of the dark. I think there’d be less want for vigilante type actions if people felt that justice would and does happen when these people get caught the first time.

@Jack: I didn’t mean to imply the emotions ever go away, just that they may not always feel so very raw.

It wasn’t my intention to create controversy, even though many will refuse to believe me.

What I really wanted to do with this question, was to tell you a very true story (which you all now know is indeed factual), then find out if you would have at least been tempted to do what the father in this story did, had what happened to his son, happened to your own.

Unfortunately, and I include myself in this, a subject like this just cannot be discussed, without many deep-seated emotions, surfacing.

Because I was sexually abused by an evil teacher (and beaten/whipped by my mother’s husband), I have to admit that I might have more emotional baggage than I would have wanted the rest of you to know about, because the focus of this question really should be on Mr. Plauché and his actions (motivated by his love for his son), rather than me and my history, and I accept full responsibility for having this discussion perhaps deviate a little bit, into something other than what it probably should be.

Some of you reading these words right now, have privately contacted me and expressed your fondness for some of my more “humorous” or perhaps “witty” (if that’s the word) remarks, and asked, “How do you come up with them?”

Comedy, it is said, is sometimes born of tragedy, in that the so-called class clown you remember from your school days, may not have had the kind of childhood you would have envied.

I went to high school with a guy who was just such a person. He was always cracking up the teachers and the other students, but never went to the Principal’s office, because he always knew when to quit, and he was an excellent student who went out of his way to help other students with their studies. He was one of the most giving, caring, and loving human beings, Our Gawd ever created. But he was plagued with his own monsters and demons, that he kept inside of him.

Shortly after graduating high school with honors, and before his 20th birthday, the jokes didn’t “work” for him anymore, and all alone one night, he placed a .38 caliber Smith & Wesson revolver inside his mouth, and pulled the trigger. He left behind no note; just stunned friends who never knew that his own father had abused him as a toddler, and intimidated him so much (and so effectively) that he never told anyone of his anguish, not even his fiancée, to whom he had been engaged, since both were 16, believe it or not. (The only reason others finally found out the truth, was because his younger brother pretty-much called a press conference and publicly accused their father of abuse. A formal investigation resulted, and the father was charged, tried and convicted of mutlple counts of abuse, and sent to prison, but not for long enough.)

To those of you who have never been sexually abused or physically mistreated in any way, I deeply envy you, and I’m happy for you. I hope that you are leading wonderful, well-adjusted lives, and if you have kids of your own, I hope that you are giving them a tremendous amount of love, and that, if the situation ever arose, Gawd forbid, that your love for them would be so strong, that you would have no hesitation about defending your kids with your own life, if necessary.

And, if you have not been where I and others like me have been, then that makes it all the more difficult for you to empathize, with those who have.

If you have never suffered a broken bone, then you can’t imagine what it feels like, when someone mentions that they broke their leg or wrist.

It also means that if you have never suffered a broken heart, you’ll not be able to comprehend that feeling, either.

Thanks for reading my words, even if you don’t agree with them.

For what it may or may not be worth to you, I have read every single word posted on this thread, as I do with any thread I have initiated.

I may not agree with all that you say to me or the others here, but I applaud you for having the guts to write your thoughts down and publicly post them, and I respect your right to say what is on your mind, no matter how much I may be emotionally affected by the words you share with us.

I hope you will continue to post what you really believe about this hot-button subject, because in many cases, your words might have healing qualities.

I agree wholeheartedly. No one knows what abuse etc does to a person, unless they’ve been there. I stand by what I said earlier, I would do the same thing as the father did.
I don’t beleive we can turn the other check in some instances. I’m more the eye for an eye type.
As far as the suicide goes…tragic. But, you never know what ppl go home too. Just goes to show how ppl think they know someone, possibly envy them; without knowin anything at all. Makes you think.

I’ve often found myself thinking that if a person would not be outraged enough to kill the one who kidnapped and sexually abused their child, that maybe that parent might not love the child, as much as s/he would like to think that s/he does.

I don’t say that to start a fight. I say that because I just can’t picture someone in my mind, saying how much they love their child, yet declining to avenge their child’s attacker, when the opportunity presents itself.

There has to be a limit to how much forgiveness one person can give to another.

@JackAdams I second your personal opinion. I sometimes wonder to myself if my parents did all they could to protect me. If they did all they could to get justice. And I don’t know and never will. I was 6 when it all happened and so I don’t remember if we ever went to court or anything. And that’s kind of haunting to me.

@tWrex: If either of your parents are still living, could they be asked about that?

Also, the court system in the place where you were living (at age 6, or so) would still have records (probably on microfilm, by now) showing if any action(s) were filed against your abuser. The records should be cross-referenced under the names of your parents, and that of your abuser.

Your family attorney (if your family had one, in those days) would have that information, or you can hire a professional researcher to try to find those records for you, if they exist.

I’d recommend a search, if for no other reason than for your own peace of mind, as finding out will provide you with a little bit of “closure,” which I believe you might still need.

If you were 6 years old at that time, your parents may have not told you what they did, to spare you any further trauma, and believe me, that was a good thing.

True story: In 1955, I was 5 years old and living in Burlington, Iowa and my unmarried aunt (my mom’s sister-in-law) came for a visit from Pennsylvania.

Sometime during her stay with us, which was only a few days, she died in her sleep in our guest bedroom, and she was only in her 40s when that happened.

My mother never told me that it happened. I just vaguely remember that I was awakened early in the morning (while it was still dark outside) and taken across the street to a trusted neighbor’s house, placed on their living room couch and told, “Just go back to sleep.”

When I later asked about my aunt, I was told, “She went back home.”

Perhaps if I had been told, “She died in our house,” my very immature mind may not have been able to process that kind of news.

I conclude that mom handled things in the right way, considering my age.

Both of my parents are alive. I unfortunately feel like asking that question may make me not talk to my parents again, so I really don’t know. I have more than enough reasons to hate my parents as it is and I’m trying to let them go. One more thing may make me step over that edge.

I may go checkout the court documents. At least then I can see if something was done and if not… well I guess we’ll see. Thanks Jack for all your supportive words and ideas. I really appreciate them.

@tWrex: I forgot to mention that in many cases, the court clerks in a courthouse will usually be very helpful to anyone whom they recognize as not being familiar with court document filing systems.

I mention this, because I used to be married to a court clerk. Also, when I have needed to do such searching(s) on my own (and in an unfamiliar court environment) the court clerks have been incredibly helpful.

If you are friendly and polite to them (without overdoing either), it has been my experience that they will go out of their way, to assist you.

Jack, I’m also not wanting to start a fight, either. I do want to respond to this that you stated above, and offer another way to view this.

“I’ve often found myself thinking that if a person would not be outraged enough to kill the one who kidnapped and sexually abused their child, that maybe that parent might not love the child, as much as s/he would like to think that s/he does.

“I don’t say that to start a fight. I say that because I just can’t picture someone in my mind, saying how much they love their child, yet declining to avenge their child’s attacker, when the opportunity presents itself.

“There has to be a limit to how much forgiveness one person can give to another.”

The way that’s worded it sounds like the options in your mind are 1) kill or 2) forgive. There are a lot of people who would choose 3) work within the law and support your child through it all.

If a parent in this situation works within the law to see a molester brought to justice, they are doing that out of love for their child. Being with the child to provide years and years of support is the most important thing a parent can do. I wouldn’t forgive or pretend to forgive a molester, but I also don’t think I’d take the law into my own hands. That doesn’t mean I don’t love my children, not by a large stretch.

Jack…I must say, of all the times I have seen this topic disgusted on a message board you had the information the most accurate. I am really impressed with the Motel Room in California. Only two small details need adjusting…

ONE: Gary Plauche found out when/where Mr. Doucet was arriving at the airport from somebody that worked at channel 2 news, not from the police.

Two: He was not pretending to be talking on the phone, he WAS talking on the phone to his best friend.

If anyone has any questions about this case on would like to know more details, please feel free to send me and email or a message. If there is anything you would like to ask Gary Plauche himself, just ask me and I will pass it on. Gary is my dad and I am Jody, the son that was taken to the motel in California…room 38 to be exact, the same age my dad was when he shot him and the same caliber gun my dad used.

Just make sure everyone keeps it a healthy discussion and don’t start hating on people…that is not good.

@Jody: First off let me say that I’m sorry for what you had to go through. I hope both you and your father are doing well. Secondly, just wanted to let you know that JackAdams is no longer a Fluther user, so he won’t be able to reply to your question. Lastly, welcome to the collective!

How do we know that you are really Jody and not Jody’s father posing. I’d like to hear what the real Jody has to say about the fact that his abusive father killed an innocent man who was brave enough to try to help him and his mother escape. This is exactly the kind of putrid website that that Plauche the father would be on. Another innocent man was killed last night in New Iberia because of this bloodthirsty media bullshit.
Link:http://www.theadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2009907120339

I lived in Baton Rouge during the time that Jody was kidnapped and remember watching this on tv when it happened. I went to school with Jody, although we were in different grades, he was a star athlete at Woodlawn High School, well adjusted considering the things that I can’t imagine happened to him a short 5 years before. Jody and I were never close but I did consider him a good friend, and still keeep up with his life as a friend on facebook. The postings on this thread as well as many others are indeed Jody, he has been involved with alot of sexual abuse organizations in his adult life which i admire tremendously for him to be able to speak openly about the things that were done to him, as far as his father Gary goes-I always considered him to be a hero for taking action against Doucet-as a father of 2 children today I assure you that I would do the same thing right now if i had to-without hesitation.

Of course my first impulse would be to do something similar and, given the emotions, it’s easy to understand. The trouble comes when considering more than my feelings.

Respect for the law, when applied fairly, is paramount to securing a civil society. Without the rule of law there’s only the rule of the jungle and many innocent people have been hurt when the laws were ignored or violated. In this case the father actually committed murder, not manslaughter as he was charged, since it was premeditated. Think of the many cases where the guilt of a perp isn’t as clear, even if the newspapers and others think otherwise. With the logic of the father, many innocent people would be killed prior to their trial.

As some of the commentors stated here, prison is a far worse sentence than summary execution, prior to trial. Child molesters are at the bottom of the totem pole, not to mention the many other kinds of poles used in our prisons towards convicted child molesters, additional crimes that seem to be allowed in our nation’s prisons.

Finally, had the father allowed the system to work, he wouldn’t have had legal expenses, parole inconvenience, an arrest, a loss of income, and who knows what else he had to endure. He may think it was worth it, but on a cost scale, had the perp gone to trial and jail, that would have been far more satisfying in the longer term, not to mention less costly to the victim’s family. But, what if the father was sentenced, instead, to time in jail? How would THAT have helped his son?

But this is too rational for most people to accept. Scary when I consider the father’s logic can be easily misapplied.